Daily Fantasy Baseball Must Starts: Freeroll Friday

Freeroll Friday is upon us! Make sure to enter your roster for the chance to win $250 at Fantazzle. But before you do so, here are some stats and trends to consider for tonight’s action.

Value plays:

Rickie Weeks – The Brewers as a team are .286 lifetime hitters against Edinson Volquez, indicating that runs should be scored tonight if they can avoid striking out to end threats. Weeks leads the charge with 6 hits in 12 career at bats, 3 of which have gone for extra bases. His 2 homers lead all active Brewers, but more importantly is his team leading 2:1 walk to strikeout ratio against the Padres starter. Weeks is guaranteed to put the ball in play, and with a lineup of successful hitters around him, that will likely result in run scoring plays. The Brewers second basemen is ranked as the 13th best at his position in Fantazzle’s fantasy baseball, and figures to outproduce that label tonight.

Derek Jeter – It would be tempting to avoid all Yankees tonight against the smoking hot Johan Santana, but not so fast. Jeter has handled the crosstown ace with ease, recording 15 hits in 33 at bats (good for a .455 average). Six of his hits have gone for extra bases and his batting average against lefties is 174 points higher than it is against righties. Playing at home, his teammates are much more comfortable, making the Yankee lineup a threat to put up plenty of runs. Look for Jeter to be in the middle of the action, helping out your daily fantasy baseball team in a big way.

Nick Johnson – Bear with me here, as the numbers simply do not lie. Johnson is a lifetime .444 hitter against Joe Blanton with a .545 career OBP against the righty. Johnson has hit all of his HR’s at home this season, so if he is going to provide value, this is the ideal matchup. The O’s are batting a ridiculous .385 in limited action against Blanton, leading me to think this could be a good night for their offense. Spend big money in salary cap fantasy baseball games elsewhere, and use Johnson as a low risk high reward option at the end.

Carlos Quentin – The hard hitting Padre has been on a tear since returning from injury, and a trip to hitter friendly Milwaukee can only help. CQ is batting .481 with 5 homers over the last 2 weeks, and faces a pitcher in Shaun Marcum who pitches better away from home. The Brewers starter sees his ERA jump 1.22 runs when he is at home, while Quentin owns a batting average 183 points higher on the road than at home. The Padres slugger is only 1-5 against Marcum, but a healthy Carlos Quentin is a nightmare for any pitcher.

Players to avoid:

Ian Kinsler – The Texas Rangers second basemen is priced behind only Robinson Cano, but with a matchup against the suddenly surging Barry Zito, living up to that price tag is a long shot. Kinsler has been held to a single hit (a harmless single) in 12 at bats against the Giants lefty, routinely pounding the ball into the ground. Zito’s off speed pitches have been effective of late (back to back quality starts with 27 ground ball outs) making Kinsler a player I want no part of in daily fantasy baseball games today.

Curtis Granderson – The Yankee outfielder is an elite fantasy option on most days, but the matchup with Johan Santana is the exception. He has recorded only a single in 15 career at bats against the Mets lefty, striking out 6 times and walking only once. It wasn’t long ago that Granderson couldn’t hit left handed pitching, and while that part of his game has matured nicely, I don’t trust him against a lefty fresh off a no hitter.

Dustin Pedroia – Rehabbing a thumb injury is hard enough, and combining that with a Stephen Strasburg fastball is borderline torture. The Red Sox second basemen is hitless in 7 at bats with a new thumb brace, and figures to have all sorts of problems with the inside heat of the best young pitcher in the game. Even before the injury Pedroia was struggling with a .190 average with 0 runs scored over the last 2 weeks. For $150,000 you cannot do any worse, so look elsewhere when filling out your roster.